


Uncertainty

by greywarden



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kink Meme, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-13 20:08:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3394754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywarden/pseuds/greywarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inquisitor wasn’t sure Cassandra even wanted to find the truth, considering recent events. Cassandra wasn’t either.</p><p>A fill for this prompt: http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/12449.html?thread=48404897#t48404897</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an attempt at a fill for a prompt from the kink meme, which can be found here:
> 
> http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/12449.html?thread=48404897#t48404897
> 
> Hopefully this is to the OP's liking...

“If we can spare resources to follow up on these leads, Inquisitor, I would appreciate it. ” Cassandra suggested softly as she made her way out of the war room. Thilior Lavellan couldn’t help but notice the distant look in her eyes as she left, a few paces ahead of him.

He knew he had to help the Seeker find what remained of her Order. Cassandra needed closure, a new path to set her on and solidify her faith. What he hadn’t expected was for her to find something to shake the very basis of her faith.

Thilior notified his advisors that he and Cassandra intended on investigating the lead they had on the Seekers of Truth at Caer Oswin. The days leading up to it, however, had Cassandra on edge. She was restless; hitting the practice dummies with her sword harder than usual, setting her novel down yet again beside her stool in favour of pacing back and forth in her little training ground.

He wasn’t sure she even wanted to find the truth, considering recent events. She wasn’t either.

So he followed her to Caer Oswin, along with the Tevinter mage and the spirit he grew rather fond of. It was apparent from the moment that they entered the grounds and killed five angry, armed men in different uniforms that something was wrong.

“Promisers. I should have known,” Cassandra sighed as she sheathed her blade. “The Order of Fiery Promise is a cult with…strange beliefs about the Seekers. They’ve hounded us for centuries.”

Thilior shook his head. “What kind of ‘strange beliefs?’”

“They believe _they_ are Seekers— the only rightful ones,” Cassandra began. “They say we robbed their powers long ago, preventing them from ending the world.”

“Ending the world?” He looked at her, intrigued.

“The only way to truly eradicate evil, in their eyes. ‘The world will be reborn a paradise.’ It’s all nonsense,” she answered.

“Why haven’t the Seekers dealt with them?”

“We have. Many times. They simply reappear after a time, like weeds. Nobody knows how.” Cassandra replied, exasperated.

“Is it…possible to negotiate with them?” Thilior glanced at the dead Promiser beside him.

“They’re fanatics, drunk on whatever forbidden magic they can find to make themselves ‘true’ Seekers. This explains why the Seekers might be here, but not the connection to Corypheus.”

“Now I’m starting to believe that Thedas seems to have a cult problem.” Thilior shrugged his shoulders as they continued moving through the fortress. It earned him a laugh from Dorian.

Thilior thought that Caer Oswin would have been quite the sight to see under different circumstances. But the halls were dimly lit, prompting the party to fumble their way through the darkness, while fighting the any cultist they encountered.

Finding the body of a dead Seeker as they walked further into the stronghold agitated Cassandra. Reading the note she found on the body of another Promiser and learning that Corypheus had sold the Seekers to the cult only further agitated her. The anger and worry laced in her voice unnerved him. The Seekers were important to Cassandra— they were the family she grew to love and care for in place of the one she lost years ago. The Inquisitor found himself at a loss for words the further they walked into the building. He couldn’t imagine what his lady Seeker must have been feeling.

It wasn’t until they stumbled upon the form of a crumpled man— still breathing— on the floor did they understand the gravity of the situation.


	2. Chapter 2

He would have dismissed the man as yet another casualty of the cult and pressed on. Thilior had never been able to stand the sight of a dead body—be it ally or foe—so he quickened his pace down the hall to avoid the body that was propped up against the statue. Until he noticed that Cassandra had stopped following him, and instead, approached the man in alarm. 

“Daniel! Daniel, can you hear me?” Cassandra knelt down beside the man, frantically inspecting his injuries. 

The dark rings around the young man’s eyes did nothing to hide the amount of pain and suffering she could see in his eyes. Dark, red lines left sinister patterns on his skin— as if he was suffering from the blight itself— and spread across his cheeks, his neck, probably spreading further on his skin under the black armour. 

“Cassandra?” Daniel whispered, voice frail as he lifted his head to meet her eyes. “It is you. You’re alive.”

“As are you. I’m so glad I found you.” Cassandra replied, with the slightest hint of relief.

“No,” he corrected her. “They…put a demon inside me. It’s tearing me up.” Daniel’s words made her stare at him with even more scrutiny than before. She clenched her fist.

“What? You can’t be possessed— that’s impossible!” The lady Seeker shook her head, disbelief evident in her voice.

“I’m not possessed. They…fed me things,” Daniel choked out. “I can feel it growing.” 

Thilior forced himself to take another look at Daniel. Just how long had he been laying here, suffering in the dimly lit room, alone? The Inquisitor squeezed his eyes closed, trying to forget the dark red lines on Daniel’s face, the very lines he could have sworn he saw pulsing, moving, growing like the infection it was on the poor man’s body. 

Thilior turned towards Cassandra, unable to find his voice until the words managed to leave his lips. “Can we do anything?”

“I…don’t know. This thing inside him…” The lady Seeker’s voice faltered, eyebrows drawn together, curling slightly. 

“The Lord Seeker. You have to find him.” The sound of Daniel’s voice cut her off, and she refocused her attention on him. 

“Of course we’ll find him. If he lives we’ll—“ Cassandra started, trying to reassure him. Whether it was more for his benefit or for her own, she wasn’t sure.

Daniel continued. “Lucius betrayed us, Cassandra. He sent us here, one by one. ‘An important mission,’ he said.” 

“Lies,” Daniel spat out, shaking his head angrily. “He was here with them all along. He’s still working with them.”

“But we met Lord Seeker Lucius in Val Royeaux. He couldn’t have been here.” Thilior stated, turning his gaze from Cassandra to Daniel. 

“That wasn’t him. It was a demon, masquerading,” Daniel answered, weakly. 

“What? How could that be?” Cassandra asked, her eyes widening.

“The Lord Seeker allowed it. He let the demon take command, while he…”

“Came here.” The lady Seeker words were barely audible as she finished his sentence, lowering her gaze to the cold stone tiles caked in dried blood.

“Cassandra,” the Inquisitor began, scrambling to find the words, any words, to console the woman he loved. 

He hadn’t missed the way she had been clenching and unclenching her fist throughout the conversation, or the way her eyes darted frantically over Daniel’s body. The slight tremor in her hand when she reached forward to grasp the dying man’s hand, as if unsure of the relief she felt finding him alive. 

It was a selfish thought, for finding him alive meant that he had been suffering, alone, waiting to finally die. 

And it was a thought Cassandra did not want to be reminded of. She had to cut Thilior off before he could say anymore, knowing that once he started, she would not be able to keep her emotions in check. Not while Lord Seeker Lucius was here, not when she was so close to learning the truth in its entirety and the fate of the Order.

“Now is not the time for sympathy.” The words came out harsher than she had intended, but they had gotten the job done. The Inquisitor could only give her a knowing look as he got up to leave. This was a conversation for another time.

The desperation in Daniel’s voice stopped them both in their tracks.

“Wait! Don’t leave me like this. Please…”

Thilior couldn’t bear to see the pained expression that briefly flashed across her face as they looked at each other. He could only nod before turning around to leave Cassandra to do what she knew needed to be done. 

“You should have come with me,” Cassandra said, wistfully. Things did not have to turn out like this. “You didn’t believe in the war any more than I did.”

“You know me. I wanted that promotion.” Daniel laughed weakly before being seized by a coughing fit.

He had always been a funny young man. One she had enjoyed mentoring. Now she had to return the favour and end his suffering.

“Go to the Maker’s side, Daniel. You will be welcome.” She gave his hand one last reassuring squeeze before she got back up on her feet.

The room spun as Cassandra tried to prepare herself. She could only see what remained of a man who would have had a promising future, had things not turned out this way. But he now lay down by her feet, dying, pleading for her to end his pain. She had to be strong for him.

Hand trembling, she grasped the hilt of her sword and unsheathed it. Resigning herself to her task, Cassandra steadied her grip and swung her blade.

Several heartbeats passed before Cassandra finally turned around and joined the rest of the party.

“He was my apprentice,” Cassandra suddenly blurted out, voice still shaky. “I have never known a finer young man.”

But she had to put this behind her for now. There was still one more person she had to deal with. So she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued onward through the fortress.

“Now we find Lord Seeker Lucius.” She would not let herself waver.

Yet she could not forget the sight of seeing the skull resting on the statue beside Daniel’s head just as her blade slit his throat.


End file.
